EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Resources for Children and Learners

Charles Clarke: In his Budget in March, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer outlined continued growth in investment in education and children's services up to 2007–08; showing again the priority the Government give to children and learners.
	On 8 July, we published our five year strategy for children and learners, setting out how the Government will use new forms to build on substantial improvements in every stage of education and children's services since 1997—from the early years of a child's life to lifelong learning and adult skills.
	Today I am giving more detail of how the additional investment announced by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor will support the reforms set out in the five year strategy.
	Early Years and Children's Services
	Investment in early years and childcare will increase £769 million between this year and 2007–08. The Government will announce a 10-year childcare strategy in the pre-Budget report when more detailed plans will be published. The broad areas to be covered will include:
	By 2008, there will be up to 2,500 children's centres;
	Bringing education and childcare together into a single integrated offer for pre-school children; and
	Developing a year round, 8am-6pm, child care offer in many primary schools; with secondary schools offering a range of "things for young people to do".
	Investment in children's services will increase by almost £1 billion by 2007–08 compared with 2004–05. We will use this investment to start taking forward key areas of reforms set out in "Every Child Matters" to achieve better opportunities and outcomes for children, young people and their families. We will provide support in the following areas:
	Increase the information available to parents and carers.
	Ensure that the professionals working with children have the right skills and competencies to support children and their families more effectively.
	Improve support to looked alter children by enhancing the provision of mentoring to this group and improve support to tester carers in order to increase recruitment and retention.
	Improve early identification and protection of vulnerable children by supporting a common assessment framework and developing arrangements for sharing information between agencies to prevent any child slipping through the net.
	We are committed to rationalising funding streams to local authorities and the voluntary sector and reducing the number of processes. We will discuss with partners how resources can be delivered to ensure funding can be flexibly deployed at the front-line where delivery of services impact most.
	Schools
	We will increase revenue funding for schools by some £3.5 billion overall between 2005–06 and 2007–08. That means that we will have increased revenue funding for schools by about £1,300 per pupil or 45 per cent. in real terms in the years since we took office.
	Our twin aims are to make the quality of teaching even better than it is now with schools driving their own and others improvement and to widen opportunities for pupils and teachers through enriching the curriculum. Specific examples of additional investment include:
	The budget for specialist schools will increase by over £100 million by 2008 to help all schools that meet the standard to become specialist;
	There will be an extra £30 million by 2008 for our leading schools which will be expected to work together with other schools to raise standards everywhere;
	There will be an extra £65 million a year for our primary and secondary strategies that have helped to increase pupil attainment since 1997, with resources targeted on those schools that need the greatest support;
	There will be continuing support for schools in areas served by the "Excellence in Cities Programme" which has helped to improve exam results at a faster rate than the national average;
	We will be making additional resources to the teacher training agency to improve the supply of high quality maths and science teachers and support the professional development of teachers: and
	To help schools enrich the curriculum, the budget for sport will increase by over £30 million by 2007–08 and there will also be more resources for music, modern foreign languages and for partnerships between schools and the arts.
	We look forward in the months ahead to discussions with schools and local education authorities on the best way to deliver all the resources that support schools. We will have a new ring-fenced budget for schools from 2006–07 and are committed both to delivering three-year budgets for schools and to rationalising the existing funding streams.
	Capital investment in schools will increase by £750 million to £6.3 billion by 2007–08 including ICT and PFI credits to support further improvements to all schools and allowing every secondary school to he refurbished or rebuilt to a modern standard over the next 10 to 15 years.
	14–19. Further Education (FE) and Skills
	Total funding for FE, skills and to develop the 14–19 phase will rise by £1.5 billion by 2007–08 compared to 2004–05, taking the Government's total expenditure on post-16 (excluding Higher Education (HE) to £11 billion.
	This is a substantial overall investment, building on the increases in funding in the three years up to 2005–06, which will allow the sector to meet growth in 16–19 participation and enable progress to be sustained on two key agendas: delivering success for all to continue to drive up quality, and reshaping the sector to become more demand led as set out in the Skills Strategy.
	We will provide greater freedom for colleges and training providers through a new delivery structure. This will be based on autonomy and independence for good colleges and providers, backed up by a risk-based approach to lighter touch inspection but tougher sanctions on poor quality.
	This will enable colleges to engage more effectively with employers by offering the training that they need, and to increase employer and individual co-financing of training in line with the benefits they receive. This is important for the sustainability of the sector and future expansion. We want all colleges to be put on a secure financial footing to deliver the important challenges that we have set out in our five-year strategy. Under the new delivery arrangements, successful colleges will be able to grow and prosper.
	The settlement includes funding to continue the development of a transformed 14–19 phase of education, in the light of the commitments made in the Department's five-year strategy. The working group on 14–19 reform, chaired by Mike Tomlinson, will issue its final report this autumn making proposals for a radical reshaping of the 14–19 phase. The Government have set out the five tests that will shape its response to the proposals, but whatever the response, the direction of travel is clear. We are therefore allocating funds to build on the work over the last few years to improve this phase of education, including workforce training and spreading good practice from the 14–19 pathfinders.
	We must support colleges in making the transition to a more demand-led approach in which greater funding comes from employers and individuals, because the training they get is designed and delivered in a way that better meets their needs. We will be looking carefully at how we can best do that. As set out in the five-year strategy, we are committed to incorporating the principles of the employer training pilots within mainstream funding for adults, as a way of promoting a more demand-led approach. We will also continue to use the Learning and Skills Council's (LSC) annual business cycle to allocate public funds in a way that better matches our national skills priorities, including through the new Level 2 entitlement.
	We will continue our drive to upgrade facilities in further education and training with an increase of 31 per cent. in capital funding between 2004–05 and 2007–08. We will also bring local decision-making and allocations for 16–19 capital provision into alignment. Working with the Department and other partners, the LSC will establish a single capital budget for new 16–19 provision across schools and FE.
	The achievements of learners depend on the quality of the teaching and learning they receive, and the way in which their teachers and trainers are themselves trained, managed and supported. We will increase by £70 million by 2007–08 our investment in initial training and continuous professional development, for teachers, trainers, leaders and managers in colleges, work-based learning and adult and community learning.
	Higher Education (HE)
	Government expenditure on higher education will increase by around £2 billion between 2004–05 and 2007–08, taking total investment to almost £9.5 billion. This builds on the significant increases from 2002 spending review, and it confirms our commitment to stand by HE in future spending reviews, made in the White Paper and repeated during the discussions on the HE Bill.
	We will increase the HEFCE grant to allow for further increases in student numbers while maintaining the level of student funding per head in real terms.
	HE institutions will also benefit from increases in research funding: DfES recurrent funding for research will increase from £1.236 billion in 2005–06 to over £1.4 billion in 2007–08—around 9 per cent., in real terms. Our contribution to total UK science spending, together with the contribution from the Office of Science and Technology, will exceed £5 billion by 2007–08.
	On top of all this, HE institutions will receive in full the extra income they generate from charging variable fees—in steady state (ie by 2010) this will be around £1.2 billion extra.
	HE institutions will start to receive this extra income in academic year 2006–07. We expect the first tranche to be paid in two instalments—one half in early 2007, and the other before the end of the academic year.
	Full time students will benefit from an enhanced student support package:
	An HE grant of up to £2,700 for the poorest new students;
	Enhanced bursaries, paid from HEIs' new fee income stream;
	Fee loans from 2006, both for existing and new students;
	A maintenance loan increased to the level of average student expenditure on essential items, both for existing and new students;
	Affordable repayments for student loans—9 per cent. of salary above £15,000, for all students after April 2005. So students will make a contribution towards the cost of their higher education, but only when they can afford to do so;
	And for new students, a loan write off alter 25 years-that will particularly help those graduates who choose low paid work.
	Part time students will also benefit from an enhanced package from this autumn. Grants for will replace loans, and a new statutory fee grant will replace the old discretionary scheme. The poorest students will get £825 in grants for fees and course costs.
	Overall, this spending review will help to put excellence in HE on a sustainable footing and will secure world-class standards through:
	increased teaching funding;
	increased research funding;
	increased fee income; and
	better support for students.
	This will enable us to make a significant impact on the funding gap we know exists, and to continue expansion on a sensible, properly funded basis.
	Value for money and efficiency
	The total investment in education and training is much larger than the figures presented here. Families have always invested and will continue to invest in their children's care and development. Employers invest in the training and development of their workforce. Support for education-in cash and in kind-is growing. We expect co-funding to grow over the spending review period, as individuals and employers become readier to invest in better education and training that meets their needs.
	We must ensure that we get maximum value from every pound of additional investment for children and learners. Enabling people across the children, education and skills system to get better value for money from our investment in public services is our aim in the Efficiency Review. We have identified ways to achieve gains in value for money of £4.3 billion over the Spending Review period. For example, we will
	reduce the number of civil service posts in the DfES and OFSTED by 1,960;
	enable front-line professionals in schools, colleges and higher education institutions to use their time more productively, enabling institutions to achieve more with their resources; for example through workforce reform, investment in ICT and reducing administrative burdens;
	improve procurement of goods, services and new school building, using a new Procurement Centre of Excellence to strengthen procurement practice across the education and children's services sectors:
	streamline the delivery system for each sector through improvements in policy, funding and regulation, such as the lighter touch process for OFSTED inspection, streamlined data collection and reduced reporting and monitoring requirements introduced in the New Relationship with Schools.
	In conclusion, this statement sets out how we will use the additional resources for children and learners over the next three years to deliver the ambitious programme set out in the five-year strategy. I will be vigilant in ensuring that they are used efficiently and effectively. If resources are not being used to best effect. I will not hesitate to ensure they are switched to where they are most needed, and I will inform Parliament of any significant movements.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Fast Track Asylum and Detention Policy

Des Browne: A key element in the Government's strategy to speed up the processing of asylum claims has been the introduction of the fast track asylum processes operated initially at the Oakington reception centre and now also at Harmondsworth removal centre and other locations. The use of detention to fast track suitable claims under these processes is necessary to achieve the objective of delivering decisions quickly. This ensures, among other things, that those whose claims can be quickly decided can be removed as quickly as possible in the event that the claim is unsuccessful.
	The lawfulness of detaining asylum claimants for the sole purpose of deciding their claims quickly was upheld by the Court of Appeal and by the House of Lords in the case of Saadi.
	When we began the fast track process we said that it was our intention to detain asylum claimants suitable for a quick decision for a period of about seven to 10 days. If we could not decide the claim within that time scale, the claimant would be released or moved to another place of detention with the facilities to support people detained for longer periods. In the vast majority of cases, we have been able to do exactly that. However, the need to ensure a really sharp focus on quality decision making, including for example in non-suspensive appeal (NSA) cases the need for a second pair of eyes, means we cannot always make decisions and serve them on claimants within the original seven to 10 target time scale. While we are able to do this in over 95 per cent. of non-NSA Oakington claims, our experience has shown us that NSA claims take slightly longer, with the majority of decisions being made and served within 14 days. The purpose of this announcement is to set out our revised fast track process detention policy.
	The fast track process has scheduled days set aside for specific activities (interviewing, serving the decision etc. but we intend this to be a guide as to how the process will generally operate. There will always be occasions when for operational or other reasons it is not possible to undertake certain activities. This may be because the claimant is temporarily unwell, there is an interpreter problem, the claimant requires longer to obtain further evidence or wishes to submit late representations for example. The process must be flexible enough to accommodate such circumstances. We would not necessarily release people from detention or from the process or move them to another place of detention simply because the timetable cannot be adhered to, if the indications are that we can make and serve a decision within a reasonable time-scale. However, the period of detention for making a quick decision will not be allowed to continue for longer than is reasonable in all the circumstances. We will aim to make decisions within 10 to 14 days, but there will be occasions where it is quicker—for example, at Harmondsworth or a non-NSA decision at Oakington. However, we will continue to detain for the purpose of deciding the claim quickly, even beyond the 10 to 14 day time scale, unless the length of time before a decision can be made looks like it will be longer than is reasonable in all the circumstances. Continued detention may also be merited in some cases irrespective of decision time scale, where our general detention criteria apply. We may also detain claimants after we have made and served a decision in accordance with our general detention criteria.
	Applicants with dependants may be detained for the purposes of making a quick decision on their claim, but there may be operational constraints on who can be detained from time to time. For example, the acceptance of families or pregnant females into Oakington may be halted temporarily if there is an illness circulating which might be harmful to them—chicken pox for example. The criteria for acceptance are applied equally to those entering the Oakington and Harmondsworth processes. The principal difference is that at Oakington, individuals with dependants on their asylum claims can be detained at the centre and at Harmondsworth they cannot. Separating dependants on a claim from the claimant can present operational difficulties and for that reason and the fact that it has no female or family accommodation, Harmondsworth will, in general, only accept male claimants who have no dependants on their claims. That is not to say that, at Oakington or Harmondsworth or any other location where fast tracking is carried out, we will never detain a claimant who has dependants on their claim, even where it is not possible to detain the dependants with the claimant. There may be occasions when we believe it is necessary and right so to do.
	When deciding whom to accept into fast track processes, account is taken of any particular individual circumstances known to us, which might make the claim particularly complex, or unlikely to be resolved in the time scales, however flexibly applied. The existence of UK based family ties—such as a spouse, partner or child—would not automatically exclude a claimant from the process as some issues, such as article 8 family life ones, can be relatively easy to decide quickly given the case law and the individual's actual circumstances.
	We will continually review how our fast track processes are operating, the criteria for acceptance into them and the indicative process time scales we aim for. This will apply equally to those we are presently operating and to any we may seek to introduce as part of our overall strategy of speeding up the asylum process and making it more effective.

Joseph Scoles

Paul Goggins: The coroner for the mid and north division of the county of Shropshire wrote to my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary, on 5 May, recommending a public inquiry into certain issues arising from the inquest into the death of John Peter Joseph Scoles (known as Joseph) at Stoke Heath young offenders institution on 24 March, 2002.
	The Treasury solicitors wrote to the legal representatives for Joseph's family to seek their comments on what the coroner had recommended. Having received and considered their comments, together with the coroner's recommendation, I am now able to announce the measures I have taken and am taking to ensure that the matters arising from Joseph's tragic death and the coroner's recommendations are properly considered.
	The issues fall into three broad categories. They are: the appropriateness of the sentence Joseph received; the effectiveness of relevant operational procedures in identifying, placing and safeguarding vulnerable young people in custody; and whether the juvenile secure estate has adequate accommodation to meet the needs of vulnerable young people.
	The steps I am taking to deal with these are as follows:
	I have referred the circumstances in which Joseph received a custodial sentence on three counts of attempted robbery to the Sentencing Guidelines Council, requesting it to take this case into account in its current work to draw up guidelines on sentencing for robbery;
	I have appointed David Lambert, a former Assistant Chief Inspector of the Social Services Inspectorate, to examine the operational issues raised by this case, including through the coroner's inquest. I have also asked him to provide a summary account of all investigations that have been conducted into Joseph's death;
	I have asked the Youth Justice Board, which is preparing proposals for its vision for the future juvenile custodial estate, to take full account of the points made by the coroner on the adequacy of custodial provision for vulnerable young offenders.
	I consider that the above measures are the most effective means of addressing the matters the coroner has drawn to the Home Secretary's attention and what lessons should be learned from Joseph's death. I am grateful to the coroner, and to Joseph's family, for highlighting the issues that are of concern to them. Nothing can bring Joseph back, but I do want to ensure that everything is done to prevent the repetition of such a tragic event.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland

Paul Murphy: The chief electoral officer for Northern Ireland, Mr Denis Stanley, is responsible for all aspects of electoral administration in Northern Ireland, including the conduct of all elections and referendums; and for electoral registration. In accordance with section 14 of the Electoral Law Act (Northern Ireland) 1962, the chief electoral officer is required to submit an annual report to the Secretary of State.
	I am pleased to announce that the annual report of the chief electoral officer for Northern Ireland for the year 2003–04 has been laid before Parliament. Copies are available in the Library.

Compensation Agency

John Spellar: The compensation agency will publish today its corporate plan for 2004–07 and business plan for 2004–05. I have set the agency the following key performance targets for 2004–05:
	Claims under the Criminal Damage (Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1977
	1. Maintain average time taken to reach decisions at 18 weeks for claims received from 1 April 2004.
	2. Reduce by 85 per cent. the number of claims in hand at 31st March 2004 on which no decision has been reached; and
	3.* Process claims under the Criminal Damage and Terrorism Act schemes at a combined average unit cost of £310.
	Claims under the Terrorism Act 2000
	4. Reach decisions on claims in 70 days for claims received from 1st April 2004;
	5. Reduce by 90 per cent. the number of claims in hand at 31st March 2004 on which no decision has been reached; and
	3.* Process claims under the Criminal Damage and Terrorism Act schemes at the combined average unit cost of £310.
	* This unit cost target relates to claims under the Criminal Damage and Terrorism Act schemes. The work involved in processing these claims is carried out in a single organisational unit within the agency so the efficiency of this element of the agency's operations is measured by reference to a combined unit cost target.
	Claims under Criminal Injuries (Compensation) (Northern Ireland) Order 1988
	6. Reduce by 45 per cent. the number of claims in hand at 31st March 2004.
	Claims under the Criminal Injuries Compensation (Northern Ireland) Order 2002 (Tariff)
	7. Decide 50 per cent. of all applications within twelve months of receiving the application.
	8. Reach decisions on applications at an average unit cost of £280.
	Compliance with Legislation/Standards of Adjudication— All Schemes
	9. The agency's standards of adjudication are appropriate; which will be confirmed by the Department's internal audit branch through random sampling of claims.
	Value for Money—All Schemes
	10. Manage the workload in 2004–05 within a running costs budget (to cover salaries and administrative expenditure) to financial limits agreed with the Department (including in-year adjustments).

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Green Belt Statistics

Keith Hill: On 29 March this year I announced the release of new statistics on the change in the amount of green belt in England between 1997 and 2003. This showed an increase of around 25,000 hectares in the amount of green belt identified in adopted local and unitary development plans.
	It was subsequently pointed out to me that the published figures contained errors, notably a significant transcription error effecting Bolsover's figure for 2003 and minor errors for three other authorities. Correcting for these errors meant that the correct figure for the increase in Green Belt in England between 1997 and 2003 should have been around 19,000 hectares and not the 25,000 figure published in March.
	I apologised to the House for these errors during the town planning debate on 26 May and said that I had publicised the 19,000 hectares figure in my reply on 10 May to a parliamentary question from the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker). However, I assured the House during the Town Planning debate that further work was being carried out on checking the figures to ensure that they are robust. This involved an independent internal audit of how the statistics were compiled and confirmation by local authorities that the change recorded for their areas was correct.
	I am pleased to tell the house that the internal audit did not find any further errors and that only minor revisions have been made as a consequence of consulting with local authorities. The statistical release with the corrected figures has been reissued today and copies are available in the Libraries of both Houses. The re-issued statistics confirm the earlier estimate of a net increase of around 19,000 hectares in the extent of green belt in England between 1997 and 2003.
	I apologise to the House for the errors in the first place and on the length of time it has taken to re-issue the correct statistics.

Planning Fees Consultation

Keith Hill: In my statement to the House of Commons on 20 January 2004, Official Report, column 55WS, on publication of "The Planning Service: Costs and Fees", I said that that research would be followed up with full consultation on bringing further resource into the planning service.
	I have today issued a consultation document, "Changes to the System of Planning Fees in England". This sets out in detail our proposals to improve the resourcing of planning so that it can deliver better services to the community and to business.
	The proposals include raising planning fees by an average of 17 per cent. This is intended to help authorities recover more of the costs of handling planning applications. In many cases, especially for the larger applications, the current fee falls far short of the handling costs.
	The increases are designed to fall differentially on applicants. For example a small business which acquired a new property and needed to apply for a change of use permission would see a fee increase from £220 to £240. Major developers and larger applicants will be asked to pay more—the maximum fee for a major development will rise from £11,000 to £28,000.
	I am also consulting on the introduction of a performance relationship, the first time this has happened in relation to fees increases. Those authorities that meet Government targets for handling major applications will be allowed to increase the application fee they charge by up to 10 per cent. to help them meet more of the costs of handling these large and often complex applications. This will encourage authorities to work harder to meet our targets. Authorities that offer the facility for applications to be made online will also have the option to reduce those fees to encourage the submission of online applications and greater efficiency in the system.
	In all, the proposed increases are expected to raise around £30 million for the planning service. Next year we will also be considering the need to look at widening the scope of planning fees, and the need for further regular increases in fees to ensure that costs in providing a planning service are being fully covered. In the meantime, I consider that the rises proposed are a sensible increase, which together with the continuing planning delivery grant, is helping to provide sustained and much-needed resource to improve planning services.
	The document is available on the ODPM website copies are also available in the Libraries of both Houses. The consultation period ends on 6 December.

Housing Market Renewal Pathfinders and Elected Regional Assemblies

Nick Raynsford: The Government intend to pass responsibility for housing market renewal pathfinders to elected regional assemblies, in those regions that vote for them. The first region to hold a referendum over an elected regional assembly will be the north-east and the referendum will be on 4 November 2004. Housing market renewal pathfinders are responsible for tackling low housing demand and we think that this responsibility would sit well with elected assemblies' strategic housing powers. My right hon. Friend Lord Rooker will be writing shortly to the Chairs of the housing market renewal pathfinders so that we can take into account their views.

DEFENCE

Suez Canal Zone Medal/Ministry of Defence Medal Office

Ivor Caplin: During defence questions on 19 July 2004, I gave an undertaking to the House to make a statement about progress made during the summer in the issuing of the Canal zone medal to Suez veterans.
	As at the week ending 10 September 2004, 41,314 applications had been received and acknowledged, and 14,761 medals dispatched. The Royal Navy is now assessing applications as they are received (5 February 2004 as at 19 July 2004), the Royal Air Force is assessing applications received on 30 December 2003 (26 November as at 19 July), and although the army medal office is still assessing applications from 31 October 2003, this is due to some 4,300 applications being received during that week. This peak in applications, which occurred following my statement to the House on 23 October, is nearly cleared and the assessment of applications received during November will begin very shortly.
	While this significant army backlog remains, a number of measures implemented by the joint personnel administration team responsible for setting up the MOD medal office at RAF Innsworth are already bringing tangible benefits. A new medal laser engraving facility has recently been installed at Innsworth. This is currently being used solely to engrave Iraq medals and over 6,000 have been produced during its first four weeks of operation. This has allowed the engraving facility at the army medal office to concentrate its efforts on the Suez Canal zone medal and as a result, the engraving backlog of some 1,800 medals has been cleared during the last month. Improvements to the information systems used by the army medal office, the facility to work overtime and the diversion of staff to Suez Canal zone medal processing are helping to improve matters further. These measures, coupled with the concerted efforts of army medal office staff have brought about an increase of approximately 30 per cent. in the army assessment rate during recent weeks.
	This increase in output has resulted in an average of some one hundred and twenty more applications per week being assessed since July.
	I can also announce that with effect from 1 October 2004 the armed forces personnel administration agency will assume full responsibility for the management of medal output, target setting and performance monitoring. This will allow many of the benefits of a single MOD medal office, such as common procedures based on single Service best practice, to be introduced prior to its actual formation date next spring.
	Following these initial changes, I now anticipate that the backlog should be cleared by January 2006 and I hope this can continue to be improved upon. I should like to pay tribute to the staff of the single service medal offices for their part in bringing about this improvement.

End-to-End Business Process Review of Disposal Activity in the MOD

Adam Ingram: I have today agreed that the Ministry of Defence should retain its in-house disposal expertise and that the two in-house disposal organisations, the Disposal Services Agency and Head of Specialisation (Disposal and Sales) of the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO), should merge under the ownership of the DLO with effect from 1 April 2005, retaining agency status and where appropriate relocating. The relocation will form part of the Ministry of Defence's contribution to the Government's Independent Review of Public Sector Rationalisation, the "Lyons Review". I have directed work to begin on implementing the review's recommendations, and I will make arrangements to place a copy of the review in the Library of the House.

End-to-End Logistics Implementation: Air Depth Support

Adam Ingram: Following extensive work to identify the best way forward for military aircraft support, I am announcing today my preferred option, subject to trades union consultation.
	In 2003 the Ministry of Defence undertook an end-to-end review of the logistics process from the front line to industry. This review, the results of which I announced on 10 September 2003, concluded that there was a need, and substantial scope, for improvement in all areas of military air systems support—in industry, the Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) and the services front line commands alike.
	The review recommended that on-aircraft depth support—deep repair, scheduled maintenance and modification of aircraft—could best be rationalised by concentrating at main operating bases (MOBs), and that this conclusion should be tested in an investment appraisal.
	The investment appraisal identified three broad options—to concentrate forward support of certain air platforms to MOBs, to concentrate backwards the same platforms to Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) sites and where appropriate industry sites, or a hybrid solution with some platforms concentrated forward and others back.
	In order not to prejudice the in-service date of the upgraded Harrier GR9 of 2006, I have already announced that Harrier support will concentrate forward to the MOB at RAF Cottesmore.
	The wider investment appraisal and subsequent affordability analysis has demonstrated that concentrating support of the Tornado GR4 aircraft forward at the MOB at RAF Marham would provide best value for money compared with the alternative of concentrating backward on the DARA site at St. Athan.
	Conversely, the work has demonstrated that it would not be cost-effective to concentrate the Tornado F3 aircraft either forward or back, given that it will soon be replaced by Typhoon. The work has also shown that it would provide better value for money to concentrate depth support for Lynx, Chinook and Sea King back to DARA Fleetlands.
	My preferred way ahead is consistent with the announcement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 21 July this year, which set out the need for the armed forces and their associated support functions to evolve in order to meet the demands of a changing world.
	The streamlining of our logistic and support functions, such as those which flow from the end-to-end logistics review, will help the Department meet its targets under the efficiency review. In conjunction with the £3.7 billion increase to the defence budget, it will enable us to continue to modernise our armed forces, tailoring our military capability to meet the challenges of the future.
	Our preferred way forward has implications for our military and civilian work-force, as well as for our partners in industry who undertake depth support of military aircraft.
	Concentrating support for rotary aircraft at DARA Fleetlands offers the opportunity to exploit fully the economies of scale that may be achieved by collocating these platforms at a single centre. Sufficient defence work would remain at DARA St. Athan to enable continued operations there until 2008–09.
	We will explore with other Government Departments alternative options for St. Athan after 2009, although the migration of work and the withdrawal from service of some platforms means that 500 redundancies would be needed there in 2005. In the longer term, failure to win alternative work would result in the closure of St. Athan.
	The application of end-to-end principles will ensure that the MOD works smarter and will improve efficiency by adopting modern best practice in supporting our military aircraft. It will lead to reductions of some 1,500 RAF uniformed personnel, which form part of the overall reductions of 7,500 set out in the 21 July announcement on force structure changes and defence change and modernisation programmes.
	There would also be modest reductions in MOD civilian posts and contractor staff posts at RAF Lossiemouth, RAF St. Mawgan and Wattisham and RNAS Yeovilton. Other service personnel would be transferred to the new depth support locations.
	A formal consultation period of 30 working days will now begin with the trades unions. Once a final decision has been taken detailed consultation on the implementation of it will follow.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Rural Post Offices

Patricia Hewitt: The performance and innovation unit report on modernising the post office network, published in June 2000, recommended that the Government should support the rural network in the first instance to 2006. It also recommended that the postal services commission, Postcomm, should advise the Government on options for the rural network after 2006. I have received that advice and have considered it very carefully.
	The Government are fully committed to supporting the Post Office's strategy for creating a viable and vibrant post office network that meets changing customer needs, providing reasonable access to services in rural communities.
	My hon. Friend the then Minister of State for Energy, E-Commerce and Postal Services announced in the House on 2 December 2002 the Government's decision to make £450 million available to support the rural post office network through from 2003 to 2006. That three-year package was intended as a transitional measure, designed to help rural post offices through the changes in the network's business between 2003 and 2006.
	At this point in the transition rural post offices continue to face real challenges and a large part of the rural network continues to be unsustainable commercially. For many post offices the number of customers they serve is simply too small to make the business attractive or sustainable. With the prospect of customer numbers continuing to fall as people access services in different ways it is clear that there are challenges ahead and that new ways to deliver services more efficiently and effectively are needed.
	How and where people access services is changing. It is not clear that the present network best meets those changing needs, or whether because of that the current shape and scale of the rural network is a viable long-term prospect. A solution for the longer-term will need to take these changes fully into account.
	Against this background Postcomm has advised the Government to review the reasons for and nature of our support of the rural network in the longer term. They advise that the nature of that support may need to change substantially.
	Postcomm's advice recognises that such changes must be well informed and that further work will be necessary. Pilot activity by the Post Office, funded by the Government, to test new ways of ensuring access to post office services in rural areas is under-way. The lessons that will emerge from these trials over the next 12 to 18 months will be crucial in informing longer-term decisions about the future shape of the rural post office network. At this stage it is simply too early to draw conclusions.
	The Government have, therefore, concluded that now is not the right time to take decisions about the long-term future of the rural network.
	It is, however, vital that we continue to support the network through this continuing difficult period. The Government are committed to ensuring reasonable access for rural communities to postal and other services. It is also clear from Postcomm's advice to us that without Government funding much of the current rural network would face closure.
	I am, therefore, pleased to announce that the Government have decided, subject to securing any further necessary state aid clearance from the European Commission, to extend its transitional financial facility for rural post offices for two further years from 2006 until 2008.
	The Government will make available up to a maximum of £150 million a year until 2008 to enable Post Office Ltd. to continue to meet the cost of maintaining the non-commercial part of the rural post office network and to pilot new ways of delivering services. Pilot activity is a key element of the current funding package—we have already allocated £25 million to fund pilots. Our intention is that this will continue to be a key element of the package going forward.
	The funding will ensure that Post Office Ltd. will have money to test new ways of delivering services and will not be forced to close unprofitable rural post offices because of a lack of funding.
	Current funding is from the gilts—Government money previously received as dividends from the company and made available back to the company for certain specific uses—and it is our intention that the further funding to April 2008 will also come from these gilts. The detailed mechanism, sums of money and timing of payments will be subject to further detailed discussion with the company, as well as being subject to state aid clearance.
	The PIU report recommended that the Post Office should be required to prevent avoidable closures of rural post offices, in the first instance to 2006. Postcomm has advised us that it is concerned that this policy can lead to post offices being saved or reopened where it is clear that customer numbers have dwindled to levels far below what is sustainable. Furthermore they have recommended that this policy should not be extended beyond April 2006.
	The Government's direction to Post Office Ltd. to maintain the network and do all they can to prevent avoidable closures remains in place. There is no question of them being able to initiate the closure of offices. However, in response to Postcomm's immediate concern I propose to amend the definition of what is unavoidable so that when Post Office Ltd. is responding to a closure—for example when a sub-postmaster decides to retire—it takes into account circumstances where there is no prospect of a viable future for a post office because of a collapse in demand for services in a particular location. The intention will be to ensure that Post Office Ltd. is focused on maintaining access to services in rural areas fully taking into account local circumstances. These changes, yet to be worked up in detail, will be published.
	I believe that we will be better placed to take a decision on the longer-term future of the rural network, including whether the current policy on avoidable closures should continue beyond April 2006, when we have feedback from the pilot activity now being undertaken by the Post Office.
	I propose therefore to ask Post Office Ltd. for a full report on pilot activity and its implications for future access to post office services by the end of 2005. I will then review the policy on avoidable closures beyond April 2006 at that point.

Coal Investment Aid

Mike O'Brien: Following the acceptance of awards worth £41 million in the first of three planned CIA application periods, up to £19 million was available when bids in the second application period were invited in April 2004.
	When the deadline for applications passed on 1 June, 12 applications had been received for a total of £94.6 million. All but one were for projects at mines which are already eligible for support following awards in Period 1.
	On review, the one new application was found to be incomplete. The applicant was given an opportunity to submit additional information but was unable to do so. This application therefore could not be considered for an award.
	Two further applications were for further support for projects which had already received substantial awards in Period 1 and for which further awards could not be justified on value for money grounds.
	The nine remaining applications have been assessed and awarded further support worth a total of £16.42 million. Most of this is expected to be drawn down by 31 March 2006. These offers leave a balance of around £2.5 million for further awards and to meet CIA administration costs.
	A summary of the Period 2 awards is given below. More details will be published shortly on the DTI Energy Group website.
	
		
			 Applicant/Production Unit Project Description Period 1Award Period 2CIASought Period 2Award TonnesSecuredMt JobsSecured/Created 
		
		
			 Eckington Colliery Partnerships,S Yorks Extension of main drift to access two new areas of reserves; acquisition of coal handling and other equipment £0.063m £0.014m £0.014m 0.3 25/6 
			 Energybuild, Aberpergwm,S Glamorgan Recovery of cross-measure drifts to access reserves through fault; upgrade of coal preparation plant & surface/admin facilities. Purchase of rail head. £1.1m £2.76m £2.42m 20.0 78/100 
			 Hatfield Colliery, S Yorks Develop access to Barnsley Main seam (1)£15.0m £33.28m £0.0m 100  
			 Tower Colliery, Mid Glamorgan Development of replacement panels £2.2m £3.5m £0.0m 3.5 420/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Ellington, Northumberland Development of replacement panels, purchase of new face equipment £2.1m £2.9m £0.0m 2.1 360/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Daw Mill,W Midlands Strategic development to access reserves in Warwickshire Thick seam; coal face mechanisation programme including purchase of set of powered roof supports; 3D surface seismic survey & surface boreholes £9.6m £2.72m £1.26m 32.8 543/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Harworth, S Yorks Development driveage to access 2 areas of Deep Soft reserves; purchase of new face equipment £4.6m £4.8m £1.72m 10.4 511/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Kellingley, N Yorks Strategic driveage to access the Silkstone seam to the south of current workings and Beeston seam to the east; purchase of new face equipment; upgrade of No. 2 winders £7.2m £8.0m £2.27m 19.15 630/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Maltby, S Yorks Strategic driveage to access reserves in Parkgate seam; provision of development & face machinery £2.4m £7.53m £2.71m 9.03 528/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Rossington, S Yorks Strategic driveage to access reserves in Barnsley/Dunsil seam to the east of current workings; infrastructure improvements; 3D surface seismic survey £3.2m £3.54m £1.39m 15.6 386/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Thoresby, Notts Development driveage to access reserves in Parkgate seam; purchase of new face and heading machinery and conveyor system. £2.9m (2)£15.0m £2.09m 16.5 509/0 
			 UK Coal plc, Welbeck, Notts Development driveage to access reserves in Deep Soft seam; infrastructure improvements; upgrade of ROM handling plant £5.2m £10.66 £2.54m 8.0 528/0 
			  Total £40.7m £94.6m £16.42m 131.8 3738/106 
		
	
	(1) Award was not taken up.
	(2) Included revision of project covered by Period 1 award.
	NB No Period 2 application was received from J Flack & Sons Ltd for Hay Royds Colliery, W Yorks, which received an award of £140,000 in Period 1.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Hurricane Ivan

Hilary Benn: On 14 September 2004, I provided the House with an oral statement on the impact that Hurricane Ivan was having on a number of islands in the Caribbean. I would like to update the House today, in advance of the recess, on the latest situation and the international relief effort being undertaken. I will provide a further written statement following the return of the House.
	Hurricane Ivan has now passed through the Caribbean and is in the gulf of Mexico. It was downgraded to a category four hurricane and made landfall along the United States coast on 15 September. It took one week, from 7 to 14 September, for the hurricane to travel from Grenada, to Jamaica, the Cayman Islands and finally western Cuba, causing over 60 deaths and severe damage along its way.
	The situation in Grenada continues to be serious. The latest reports from the island indicate that 37 people died and over 300 were injured as a result of the hurricane. Two thirds of the population (60,000 people) are reportedly affected and it is estimated that between 4,000 and 8,000 people are living in shelters. The range of figures reflects that many of these shelters are private houses of which there are up to 200. Electricity supply continues to be a problem and piped water is only available to about a third of households across the island. In the meantime water tankers are operating, but fuel is in short supply. This is hampering both transport and emergency electricity generation. The main hospital is working and sustained only minor damage. Drugs are in short supply as the main stock was destroyed. Other hospitals on the island suffered more extensive damage. There is a dawn to dusk curfew following the looting that occurred immediately after the hurricane had hit the island.
	The relief operation is scaling up quickly but continues to face problems with coordination and communications. The emergency operation centre building was destroyed in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane but was brought back into operation by the efforts of HMS Richmond. It is now fully operational with assistance from the regional Caribbean disaster emergency response agency and a recently arrived United Nations disaster assessment and coordination team. Roads and airports are now open. Distribution of food and other relief items is proceeding slowly, in part due to fuel shortage and in part due to the scale of properly assessing where need is greatest. The United Nations team will help in prioritising the delivery of supplies. Communicating with the population is also a constraint. There are only FM broadcasts operational, and these do not reach the whole island. The two dependencies of Carriacou and Petit Martinique have yet to be assessed.
	As I reported to the House on 14 September, the Department for International Development delivered plastic sheeting for 1,400 families and water containers for 11,000 people on 11 September and made an immediate contribution of some £83,000 to the Pan American Health Organisation. We have since made a contribution of £132,000 to the preliminary appeal for Grenada of the International Federation of the Red Cross. The Pan American Health Organisation and the International Federation of the Red Cross are both active in Grenada. The Pan American Health Organisation has deployed medical personnel and vaccines. The International Federation of the Red Cross has sent a number of relief flights with basic relief items, including shelter materials. The Department for International Development are continuing to monitor the situation closely, in particular the level of medical supplies on the island, and will consider providing further relief assistance as needs become clearer. We are in daily contact with the Pan American Health Organisation concerning health needs.
	The United States Agency for International Development has provided plastic sheeting for 25,000 people and other relief items in Grenada. The Canadian International Development Agency have approved support of £211,100 and the European Community's humanitarian office have approved an allocation of £1.03 million for Grenada. The bulk of this allocation will go towards the Red Cross operation and Oxfam who are assisting with emergency water and sanitation work. The United Kingdom's share of this European Community support is about £200,000.
	The two-person humanitarian assessment team sent to the region by the Department for International Development arrived in Kingston, Jamaica on 13 September. On 14 September, they met with representatives from the Government of Jamaica, national and international organizations, and other donors. They report good coordination between the Government's Office for Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, the Jamaican Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the United Nations disaster assistance and coordination team. Joint rapid assessments are underway with several areas of the island already identified as the most severely affected. These areas include Westmoreland, Claredon, Morant Bay, May Penn and the northeast Blue Mountains. It is not thought that there is widespread devastation but there are a number of pockets of devastation.
	Until the assessments are completed, exact figures are difficult to come by but there are reported to be 200 to 245 shelters open, serving between 4,000 to 13,000 residents across the island. Water is the key issue in many of the hardest hit communities. Food stocks in the Blue Mountain region were reported as running low. Heavy flooding in the surrounding area is delaying assessments. As an interim measure, the Government of Jamaica through its defence forces has airlifted an initial stock of food to the region. The Red Cross has also delivered relief supplies. Although most of the hospitals are operational, they report a lack of power and water supplies with much of the ground water contaminated. The Pan American Health Organization is working with the Ministry of Health to identify specific needs in the health sector and resolve these problems. A number of non-governmental organisations have undertaken preliminary assessments to address short-term relief needs. The Department for International Development has received requests for funding support from Save the Children, Oxfam and ADRA. These proposals are being urgently considered.
	The Department for International Development assessment team arrived on the Cayman Islands, from Jamaica on 15 September. They are assisting the Government in undertaking urgent humanitarian needs assessments, which will determine what further urgent supplies are required. Initial estimates indicate 15–20 per cent. of residential houses completely destroyed and 20 per cent. with major damage. The Department for International Development had already responded to an earlier request for assistance by procuring 3 million water purification tablets, 50 chainsaws, 500 camp cots for children and 5,000 pieces of plastic sheeting. These supplies are on their way to the island, with our first relief flight arriving today. The International Federation of the Red Cross is also planning a relief flight.
	The Governor is concerned about maintaining security on the islands and is looking to obtain additional security support. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is considering the request. The Governor is not aware of medical supply problems but the assessment being undertaken will confirm these and other needs. The main concern appears to be water supply and the need to deliver water purification tablets, which the Department for International Development is supplying. A water trucking system is being set up. HMS Richmond sent a 17-person party on shore on 14 September. They have repaired generators, attended to damaged buildings and have been providing food distributions. Of a population of 42,000, approximately 3,000 people remain in shelters. Food supplies are being delivered to all shelters. The airport on the island is now fully operational and busy with both passenger and cargo aircraft. This has enabled 30 dialysis patients needing emergency dialysis and ongoing care to be airlifted to the United States by Cayman Airways. Shops have reopened. The Caribbean Utilities Company will support restoration of power supplies.
	Ivan swung past the western edge of Cuba late on 13 September as a category five hurricane. One and a half million people had been evacuated from the area by the Cuban authorities, with 300,000 people placed in shelters. The western area of Cuba is sparsely populated and there have been no immediate reports of deaths, injuries or serious damage to buildings. It is mainly a tobacco growing area but planting does not begin till next month so limited damage is expected on tobacco crops. Its impact on agricultural installations and housing in coastal areas is to be reported. Airports have reopened and children are expected to return to school this week.
	The Ministry of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation are forming an assessment team to inform the Government of needs. Cuba prepared itself well ahead of the hurricane and fortunately appears to have been spared the full force of the hurricane, and national emergency services have mobilised rapidly to distribute food and non-food items to displaced people.
	Whilst Hurricane Ivan has passed out of the Caribbean, hurricane warnings remain in place for the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. Residents and tourists have been evacuated from areas likely to be affected by strong winds and waves. No reports are yet available on the impact on the Yucatan peninsula but damage is likely to be contained.
	Further information on the continuing relief effort to affected islands will be made available via the Department for International Development website http://www.dfid.gov.uk/.
	This will include details of how concerned members of the public could help via relief agencies.

Iraq (Reconstruction)

Hilary Benn: I visited Baghdad and Basra from 31 August to 1 September to learn for myself about progress with reconstruction on the ground. I met Prime Minister Allawi, development Ministers, representatives from the United Nations, civil society and the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, and representatives from local government.
	The interim Iraqi Government is now clearly in charge, although recent events in Najaf have dominated its first months in power. The difficult security situation has inevitably slowed down the reconstruction effort of not just the UK, but also of other donors and the multilateral agencies. However, it was clear that progress is still being made. Some 45 km of water pipes have been laid in Basra since my last visit in February and electricity distribution is now more equitable across the national grid. Partially due to these efforts, the riots that happened in Basra last summer because of the lack of basic services have not reoccurred this year.
	While in Iraq I announced a number of new UK bilateral projects, focusing on building the capacity of the Iraqi Administration, and promoting employment creation, in southern Iraq. These projects mark an important step forward in our reconstruction efforts in southern Iraq as we move from meeting short-term humanitarian and immediate infrastructure rehabilitation needs towards addressing longer-term development challenges. Southern Iraq should receive massive reconstruction funds over next two to three years from a range of sources, including the USA, Japan and the World Bank and UN trust funds. One of DFID's aims is to help the Iraqi administration to ensure that this money is spent quickly and well, and that the benefits of reconstruction are widely shared across the population. We are investing £20.5 million in strengthening local management, planning and financial capacity in the four southern governorates of Basra, Muthanna, Dhi Qar and Maysan, including £15 million for projects developed by the Governorates. We have also started a new £16.5 million programme to finance employment programmes and further emergency infrastructure repairs.
	DFID has committed £331 million to humanitarian and reconstruction assistance in Iraq since March 2003. Of this total £78 million has been allocated to bilateral reconstruction projects in southern Iraq; £19 million to support for the new interim Iraqi Government, the justice sector, independent media, civil society and political participation; and £28 million for consultants and secondments to the Coalition Provisional Authority while it was in office up to 28 June. £70 million has been paid into the trust funds managed by the United Nations and the World Bank, to be spent primarily on health, education, water and sanitation projects, assistance for refugees and strengthening governance; and nearly £12 million has been committed to IMF and international finance corporation programmes for economic governance support and small business development. Updates on DFID's programmes can be found on the internet at www.dfid.gov.uk, as well as in the House Library.
	As on my previous two visits to Iraq, I was impressed by the extraordinary courage and commitment of all the people, both international and Iraqi, who are working to help the new Iraqi Government and the people of Iraq to build the better future that they deserve.

Post Conflict Reconstruction Unit

Hilary Benn: Together with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the Secretary of State for Defence, I wish to inform Parliament of the Government's intention to improve the United Kingdom's capacity to deal with immediate post conflict stabilisation, including by integrating civilian and military policy, planning and operations. In recent years, the United Kingdom, with the international community, has been increasingly involved in helping countries to stabilise after conflict. We need to deal better with conflict and instability, learn lessons and improve our capability to respond. Within this broader context, there is particular scope to improve the way in which we deal with immediate post conflict situations, especially those which include military and civilian components. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Ministry of Defence and Department for International Development are working closely to develop the capabilities that are needed. The Foreign Secretary will chair a new Cabinet sub-committee on post conflict reconstruction. My right hon. Friends and I expect to be in a position formally to establish an inter-departmental post conflict reconstruction unit later this year to lead this work. It will have a policy and operational role. In spring 2005 we anticipate being able to inform Parliament about its initial capabilities. Meanwhile, my right hon. Friends and I have placed a note in the House of Commons library which provides more detail about the Government's aims and plans.

Pakistan

Mr. Gareth Thomas: On 15 September 2004, the Secretary of State for International Development wrote to Shaukat Aziz, Pakistan Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, to notify him that DFID has now cancelled Pakistan's ex-CDC debt amounting to £19 million.
	The outstanding loans made by the former Commonwealth Development Corporation to public sector bodies in developing countries were removed from the newly formed CDC Capital Partners balance sheet on 31 August 2000 and transferred to DFID. In the case of Pakistan, the loan concerned was to the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board.
	The only other inter-governmental debt between the UK and Pakistan relates to export credit guarantees. Following the Paris Club Agreement, this debt was rescheduled and is now valued at only £9 million.
	In 2001 DFID agreed to cancel the ex-CDC debt, subject to Pakistan completing the second review of the Poverty Reduction Growth Facility (PRGF) with the International Monetary Fund. In the interim, the debt was suspended with no interest payments required from Pakistan to DFID. On 23 June 2004 the IMF Executive Board successfully completed the second annual review of Pakistan's PRGF, implying the ex-CDC debt can now be cancelled.
	The Pakistan programme continues to be a high priority for DFID. As announced to the House in March 2003, during 2003 DFID provided Pakistan with £55 million to cancel debt held with the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Over the next two years (2004–05 and 2005–06), DFID's assistance to Pakistan will be £70 and £74 million respectively. This will support the Government of Pakistan achieve the millennium development goals through the implementation of their poverty reduction strategy (published in December 2003), Priorities for DFD3 are increasing the incomes of poor people, improving service delivery to poor people and increasing accountability of the state to poor people.

HEALTH

Continuing Care

Stephen Ladyman: I am reporting on progress with investigations into cases where individuals may have been inappropriately denied fully funded National Health Service care since 1996. These cases relate only to matters of past financial injustice and all claimants had access to care services and NHS treatment.
	The majority of strategic health authorities (SHAs) have made considerable progress since December in the process of remedying any consequent financial injustice to patients (or the estates of such patients) who had wrongly been made to pay for the cost of their continuing care. In December, just over 22 per cent. of cases received had been completed. Between December and March a substantial number of additional cases had been reported and by the end of March 57 per cent. of cases had been completed. A percentage completion rate of pre-March 31 cases of more than 85 per cent. in July reflects the amount of work undertaken by all NHS and local authority personnel involved.
	The NHS has stressed the importance of all cases being investigated thoroughly and accurately and as such is committed to reviewing each application on its own merits. The process involved in undertaking an in-depth review involves contact with many health and social care organisations and bodies, and as such there have been considerable delays in obtaining all the relevant records and patient data. In some cases data and information from aged cases has been lost and, wherever possible, it must be gathered from alternative sources.
	Delays should not automatically be attributed to the SHAs involved in particular cases; occasionally it is the claimant themselves who are responsible for the delay. Many SHAs are now exceeding 95 per cent. completion. In some cases, however, progress has been unsatisfactory, and the Department will take up the matter directly with those SHAs.
	In total, almost 20 per cent. of cases have been granted recompense. As stated previously, the NHS expects to pay a total of £180 million when all the cases received by the end of March 2004 have been completed.
	Approximately 1,600 cases remain outstanding, which is unacceptable. However, I am assured that all cases relating to living people have been prioritised, and that new applications for NHS continuing care are being dealt with in a timely fashion. My Department will be liaising with all SHAs to ensure appropriate procedures are now in place and that outstanding cases are resolved as quickly as possible.
	The proportion of completed cases by SHA is shown in the table.
	
		Figures for progress with restitution cases in continuing care
		
			  At Dec 03 At Dec 03 At March 04 At March 04 At July 04 At July 04 
			 Strategic health authority (SHA) name Number ofcases Percentagecompleted Number ofcases Percentagecompleted Percentagecompleted* Caseseligible forpayment** 
		
		
			 Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire SHA 512 2.3 651 43.2 91.8 72 
			 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire SHA 216 13.0 212 48.1 59.5 38 
			 Essex SHA 6 0.0 172 84.9 97.7 15 
			 North West London SHA 146 28.8 372 48.7 98.0 108 
			 North Central London SHA 121 5.0 125 51.2 74.8 14 
			 North East London SHA 148 3.4 180 93.9 98.8 19 
			 South East London SHA 30 0.0 273 67.0 91.4 165 
			 South West London SHA 190 6.8 215 90.2 96.1 69 
			 Northumberland, Tyne & Wear SHA 275 2.9 298 42.3 73.7 113 
			 County Durham and Tees Valley SHA 226 7.5 226 21.3 96.0 79 
			 North & East Yorkshire & North Lincs SHA 286 44.4 359 74.1 96.3 52 
			 West Yorkshire SHA 156 28.9 349 37.3 79.7 59 
			 Cumbria and Lancashire SHA 250 14.4 340 45.3 88.2 41 
			 Greater Manchester SHA 292 22.3 342 29.8 74.1 63 
			 Cheshire & Merseyside SHA 400 0.0 1,196 64.7 97.7 130 
			 Thames Valley SHA 299 52.2 383 47.3 63.9 44 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight SHA 387 59.2 507 76.1 97.7 40 
			 Kent and Medway SHA 277 49.1 230 80.9 94.8 36 
			 Surrey and Sussex SHA 964 13.7 875 1.7 37.7 69 
			 Avon, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire SHA 698 45.4 961 63.7 100.0 131 
			 South West Peninsula SHA 458 10.9 553 78.3 95.8 144 
			 Dorset and Somerset SHA 425 27.8 915 49.0 95.4 49 
			 South Yorkshire SHA 138 38.4 241 67.6 96.9 43 
			 Trent SHA 400 0.0 315 74.9 86.2 23 
			 Leics, Northants and Rutland SHA 38 21.1 224 90.2 89.6 30 
			 Shropshire and Staffordshire SHA 406 39.7 431 95.6 99.1 40 
			 Birmingham and the Black Country SHA 157 14.7 286 74.5 85.7 77 
			 West Midlands South SHA 193 21.2 424 55.9 98.9 33 
			 Total 8,094 22.6 11,655 57.0 86.1 1,796 
		
	
	Note:
	* The percentage of cases completed at July refers only to cases received up to and including 31 March 2004.
	** The cases eligible for payment at July refers to all cases investigated up to and including 31 July 2004.

Health Committee's Report

Melanie Johnson: The Government's response to the Health Committee's Fourth Report of Session 2003–04 on palliative care, Cm 6327, has been published today. Copies have been placed in the Library.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Benefit Fraud Inspectorate Phase 10 Work Programme

Chris Pond: On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the benefit fraud inspectorate (BFI) has today announced its phase 10 work programme.
	BFI will be undertaking shorter inspections focused on the areas of poor local authority performance in the administration of housing benefits. Inspections focusing on the time taken to process benefit claims will be undertaken at Mid-Suffolk district council and Flintshire county council. Inspections focusing on the adequacy of councils' counter-fraud arrangements will be undertaken at a number of authorities including Gravesham borough council, south Buckinghamshire district council and south Cambridge district council.
	BFI will undertake full inspections on four local authorities whose benefits administration has been identified as poor or fair under the comprehensive performance assessment regime. These include Castle Point borough council, Mansfield district council and south Northamptonshire council. A full inspection of Bromsgrove district council's benefits service will be made with the agreement of a Government monitoring board which has been set up by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
	BFI will also undertake a full inspection of Newport city council whose benefits service performance has been identified as a significant risk following assessment under the Wales programme for improvement.
	BFI is an independent unit within the Department for Work and Pensions that inspects and reports directly to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the standard of benefits administration and counter-fraud activity in local authorities and the Department itself.

Liverpool City Council

Chris Pond: On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the benefit fraud inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Liverpool city council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
	Following the housing Green paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The "Performance Standards for Housing Benefits" allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.
	In 2002–03, Liverpool city council administered some £237.1 million in housing benefits, 21.69 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.
	BFI inspected Liverpool city council in July 2000 and identified significant weaknesses in its provision and management of benefit and counter fraud services.
	The second inspection report finds that since July 2000 the council had initiated a major business transformation programme to address the issues and recommendations in BFI's first report. These included the:
	re-engineering of its business processes;
	establishment of a joint venture with a major private contractor to provide essential business services to improve its benefits and counter fraud services, including a customer contact centre and one stop shops;
	implementation of a document management system in January 2003;
	full implementation of the verification framework in April 2003;
	replacement of its benefits and council tax IT systems in October 2003.
	The report finds that the council had a clear vision for its benefits service supported by policies covering the full range of benefit administration activities. However, IT problems led to a backlog of work and the council had consistently failed to meet best value performance indicators for speed of processing claims. Delays in processing claims were undermining most aspects of the benefits service. New claim customers had to wait an average of 143 days for a claim to be processed and delays in processing reported changes of circumstances had resulted in overpayments being incurred unnecessarily by the council, representing a loss of public funds.
	BFI had serious concerns about the total level of overpayment debt at the council, and an estimated £3.5 million of outstanding debt had not been transferred from its old benefits IT system.
	BFI commend internal audit for its support of the benefits management team in addressing areas of weakness identified.
	The counter fraud service was very effective and made use of the full range of sanctions available. The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit, as well as counter-fraud activities.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the BFI's findings and recommendations.

Departmental Efficiency

Alan Johnson: On 29 June, following on from the announcements in the Budget, my predecessor gave an update to the House on the progress of the DWP efficiency programme which will reduce my Department's workforce by 30,000 by 2008.
	The June statement highlighted that Jobcentre Plus was reviewing the scope to increase the efficiency of its benefits processing by reducing the number of sites in which this work is carried out. He also announced that, as part of their programme to modernise benefit processing and contact centre operations, Jobcentre Plus will take on six pensions centres.
	I can today announce that:
	Subject to further detailed planning benefit processing will be centralised in 81 sites by 2008. I would like to make it clear that 37 sites will cease to be viable and will close altogether as a direct consequence of centralisation. Not all jobs will go with many transferring elsewhere. In those sites not named for closure there is continued Jobcentre Plus activity and their future will be determined in the normal way as part of the rollout of the Jobcentre Plus network.
	As part of the Jobcentre Plus roll-out strategy Jobcentre Plus Direct (which provides an initial telephone contact service for customers) will deliver services through 23 contact centres by 2006. This will involve moving work from a number of existing locations within the Jobcentre Plus network and will result in the closure of three sites where contact centre work is currently undertaken; Provan, Banbury and Milton Keynes.
	In line with the Lyons Review, which recommended relocating some public sector activities away from London and the South East, Employer Services Direct will close two of its 11 Employer Direct sites, in Portsmouth and Bromley, by Summer 2005. Work will be moved to other sites.
	Staff in all affected sites are being briefed by their managers today. We continue to consult with the trade unions. We have already outlined to them our policy proposals for handling these changes.
	The changes I am announcing today are the latest component of our continuing modernisation programme that will lead to more efficient and effective services for our customers.
	
		Benefits centralisation sites
		
			 Region Processing sites Site closures 
		
		
			 East of England Basildon, Great Oaks House Bury St. Edmunds, St. Andrews HouseLuton, Cheviot HouseNorwich, Baltic HousePeterborough, Clifton HouseWatford, Exchange House Braintree, Panfield LaneSouthend, Victoria HouseStevenage, Brickdale House SSO 
			 East Midlands Chesterfield JobcentreDerby, Becket StreetLeicester, Wellington StreetLincoln, Orchard House SSO Mansfield SSONottingham Pension Centre Wellingborough SSO Worksop, Crown House 
			 North East Newcastle, Cobalt House Stockton Pension Centre Sunderland, Wearview House Bishop Auckland SSO 
			 North West Liverpool, Belle Vale Birkenhead, Horden House Blackpool, Marton Mere Bolton, Elizabeth House Burnley, Brun HouseCarlisle, Rufus HouseChester, Chantry ChorltonHuyton, Edendale HouseHyde, Beech HouseOldham, Phoenix HousePreston, Barry HouseSt. Helens, Gregson House Bury, Humphrey House SSOKirkby, Webster House SSORochdale, Newgate HouseSalford, Aldine House SSOSalford, Baskerville House SSO 
			 Scotland Bathgate SSOClydebank SSOCoatbridge SSOGlasgow (site tbc)Greenock Jobcentre Plus Inverness SSOKilmarnock SSOSpringburn SSO Coatbridge Jobcentre Hamilton SSOKircaldy SSOPerth SSO 
			 South East BroadstairsCanterburyCoshamDoverHastings Child Support Agency CentreMilton KeynesNewport (IoW)RamsgateTotton SSO Ashford, Kent House JobcentreChatham, Brook House JobcentreSittingbourne Jobcentre Tunbridge Wells SSO 
			 South West Bournemouth, Cotlands Road Bristol East, Lodge House Chippenham, St. PaulsExeter, Clarendon HouseGloucester, Cedar HousePlymouthSt. Austell, Carlyon House Bath, Somerset Hall JobcentreBristol, St. Catherine's House SSOCheltenham SSOTrowbridge SSOWeston Super Mare, Carlton House 
			 Wales Caerphilly, Crown Buildings Llanellie, Crown Buildings Myrthyr Tydfil, Block 3 AbermorlaisNewport, Sovereign HouseSwansea, Oldway HouseWrexham Pension Centre Aberystwyth SSOBarry SSOCardiff, Eastgate House Carmarthen, John Street SSONeath, Percival House SSORhyl SSO Wrexham DMO 
			 West Midlands Cannock SSOHandsworthHanley SSOPerry Barr SSORavenshurst SSOWolverhampton Pension Centre Worcester Dudley SSOLongton JobcentreNorthfield SSOShrewsbury, Whitehall SSOWalsall, Glebe Street SSOWashwood Heath SSO West Bromwich SSO 
			 Yorkshire & Humberside Barnsley SSOBradford East SSODoncaster SSOHalifax, Crossfield HouseHull, Oriel HouseLeeds, Eastgate House Sheffield, Hartshead Square York SSO  
			 London BalhamBelfast Benefit Centre Glasgow Benefit Centre HackneyIlfordMakerfield Benefit CentreStratford  
		
	
	Notes:
	SSO—Social Security Office.
	DMO—District Management Office.

Pension Protection Fund/Pension Regulator

Chris Pond: Improving member protection is a Government priority. The Pension Protection Fund and the Pensions Regulator form the basis of providing such protection and successful introduction of both organisations is a priority of this Government.
	As the Pensions Bill is continuing its passage through the House there has been cross-party support for the principles behind both the Pension Protection Fund and the Pensions Regulator and the desire to provide protection for individuals as soon as possible.
	The intention, subject to parliamentary approval, is to achieve successful introduction of both organisations by April 2005. This timetable is very challenging and in order to make this date a reality it is necessary for the Department for Work and Pensions to carry out essential activities in advance of the legislation receiving Royal Assent.
	Therefore, Parliamentary approval for additional resources of £477,000 for these new services will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the Department for Work and Pensions as soon as legislation is passed. Pending that approval, this urgent expenditure will be met by repayable cash advances from the contingency fund.
	In addition, although no cash advance is required, the Department for Work and Pensions will be agreeing to contractual and lease arrangements in respect of accommodation in Croydon, where the staff of the Pension Protection Fund will be located. These negotiations are ongoing, however the Department will endeavour to keep resource consequences to a minimum. When these costs are known the Department will inform the House.
	Croydon was chosen as it met the three key criteria, essential to ensure that the Pension Protection Fund can operate with optimum effectiveness and efficiency, within the required deadline. These key criteria are: achieving successful implementation—which includes direct links and proximity to both the Pension Regulator in Brighton and key stakeholders in London; ability to recruit the right staff and value for money.

London Borough of Enfield

Chris Pond: On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on London Borough of Enfield Council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
	Following the housing Green Paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The "Performance Standards for Housing Benefits" allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.
	In 2002–03, London Borough of Enfield Council administered nearly £123 million in housing benefits, representing some 17.5 per cent of its gross revenue expenditure.
	The report concludes that the council had made sustained improvements in some important areas since the initial inspection of the benefits service in September 2002.
	Between September 2002 and March 2004 it had reduced its backlog of work of some 6,800 items to 1,882 and made significant improvements in processing new benefit claims, reducing the time taken to determine claims from 67 days on average in 2002–03 to 41 days by February 2004.
	The council had made organisational changes to strengthen its stand against benefit fraud. It had increased the number of investigators, leading to improvements in the quality of investigative work and the number of sanctions being applied to fraudsters.
	However the council needs to improve the identification, classification and recovery of benefit overpayments.
	The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit, as well as counter-fraud activities.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the BFFs findings and recommendations.

Teesdale District Council

Chris Pond: On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Teesdale district council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library.
	Following the housing Green Paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The "Performance Standards for Housing Benefits" allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.
	In 2002–03, Teesdale district council administered nearly £4.56 million in housing benefits, about 43.3 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.
	BFI's report identifies a number of significant concerns. Some strategic management policies were lacking and this meant that managers and staff did not have a clear understanding of what was essential to deliver a high quality service.
	Below this, a lack of procedural guidance hindered benefits administration and counter-fraud work. Processes were based on custom and practice, which meant that staff had no reference materials and there was no assurance safeguards for new staff. Despite the lack of documented policies and procedures, the standard of work in many areas was generally good and the report notes the improvement in claims processing times which were just outside the upper quartile performance for all local authorities in the United Kingdom.
	Particular weaknesses were found, however, in customer services. A best value benefits satisfaction survey that was due in 2003 had not been undertaken. There had been no measurement of customer waiting times or assessment of the telephone service provided. No formal take-up strategy was in place and BFI concluded that the council was not providing adequate information to current or potential customers.
	The report found that informal working relationships between departments in the council had resulted in poor communications that were detrimental to benefits service customers. The housing unit had sent repossession notices to council tenants with rent arrears even when the arrears were due to benefit claims not having been processed.
	The report raises concern that there had been little work undertaken to recover overpayments. This had resulted in an accruing debt and consequential loss of available funds to the council. Although it was still to achieve its first successful prosecution, the application of other sanctions was an encouraging sign that the council was establishing an effective counter-fraud operation.
	The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit, as well as counter-fraud activities.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the BFI's findings and recommendations.

Inspection Report of the Benefit Fraud inspectorate in Respect of Swindon Borough Council

Chris Pond: On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) inspection report on Swindon Borough Council was published today and copies of the report have been placed in the Library. Following the housing Green Paper "Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All", published in April 2000, the Department for Work and Pensions developed a performance framework for housing benefits. The "Performance Standards for Housing Benefits" allow local authorities to make a comprehensive self-assessment of whether they deliver benefit effectively and securely. They are the standards that the Department for Work and Pensions expects local authorities to aspire to and achieve in time.
	In 2002–03, Swindon Borough Council administered some £34 million in housing benefits, about 13 per cent. of its gross revenue expenditure.
	The report concludes that the council had made sustained improvements in some important areas since the current contractor took responsibility for the Benefits service in August 2002.
	Between August 2002 and January 2003 it had cleared its backlog of work of some 9,400 cases and made significant improvements in processing new benefit claims, reducing the time taken to determine claims from 89 days on average in 2002–03 to 59 days in 2003–04.
	It had also carried out a number of good quality fraud investigations, prosecuting eight benefit fraudsters during 2003–04.
	However, the council needs to develop a strategic management infrastructure to enable effective management and monitoring of the benefit service. This will also provide senior managers and elected Members with assurance that recommendations from auditors and other regulators are implemented.
	The council also needs to do more to process claims accurately, prevent and deter benefit fraud and recover the £2.58 million of housing benefit debt outstanding.
	The council have asked for help from the BFI's performance improvement action team.
	The report makes recommendations to help the council address weaknesses and to further improve the administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit, as well as counter-fraud activities.
	My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State is now considering the report and will be asking the council for its proposals in response to the BFI's findings and recommendations.

Housing Benefit Quarterly Performance Statistics

Chris Pond: On behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions I am announcing the publication of performance statistics for local authority administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit (HB and CTB) for the first quarter of 2004–05. A copy of the quarterly statistics for all local authorities in Great Britain has been placed in the Library and has been published on the Department for Work and Pensions website at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/other– stats.html.
	Publishing these statistics is part our strategy for reforming housing benefit and for ensuring that local authorities are accountable for their performance in administration of housing benefit and council tax benefit.
	Housing benefit and council tax benefit performance statistics show that in the first quarter of 2004–05, authorities that returned data reported that:
	new claims were processed in an average of 50 days, compared to 52 days in the first quarter of 2003–04
	some 146 authorities had met the performance standard for processing new claims, compared to 103 in the same quarter of 2003–04
	change of circumstances were processed in an average of 14 days, compared with 16 days in the first quarter of 2003–04
	some 40 authorities met the performance standard for processing change of circumstances, compared to 113 in the same quarter of 2003–04.
	The statistics are un-audited and are provided quarterly by local authorities to my Department.
	The most recent audited Best Value performance information for English local authorities for 2002–03 was published by my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister on 18 December 2003 on the Best Value Performance Indicators website at: http://www.bvpi. gov.uk/home.asp. A copy is available in the Library.
	The most recent corresponding data for local authorities in Wales is also for 2002–03.This is published on the Audit Commission website at http://www.lgdu-wales.gov.uk/eng/Project.asp?id=SX99Al-A77F4BA8. A paper copy of the relevant extract from this site is available in the Library.
	The most recent corresponding data for local authorities in Scotland are also for 2002–03 and are in the Accounts Commission publication "Performance Indicators 2002–03: Benefits, Finance and Corporate Issues", a copy of which is available in the Library.

Pension Credit

Malcolm Wicks: I can now provide the latest monthly progress report on the take-up of pension credit, which became payable on 6 October 2003.
	There are now 2.61 million pensioner households (3.17 million individuals) being paid pension credit, an increase of 25,000 households (31,000 individuals) during August. As at 31 August, there are 1.94 million households (2.36 million individuals) now receiving more money as a result of the introduction of Pension Credit, gaining by an average £16.33 a week. The average pension credit award is £41.71 per week.
	There is plenty of time for pensioners to apply for pension credit. To ensure that people do not lose out, customers whose applications are successful in the period up to October 2004 will have their payment backdated to 6 October 2003 (or to the date of entitlement if this is later). The 2004 Budget statement confirmed that backdating arrangements will continue beyond October 2004. This means that anyone eligible applying after October 2004 will see their payment backdated by up to 12 months.
	I am placing in the Library a report showing progress so far, including regional breakdowns of the number of pension credit households and accompanied by tables showing the numbers of pension credit awards in Parliamentary constituencies in Great Britain. Copies of the report and the tables are also available for hon. Members in the Vote Office.

PRIME MINISTER

House of Lords Appointments Commission

Tony Blair: I have today placed the House of Lords Appointments Commission annual report for 2003–04 in the Libraries of the House.
	I am grateful to the members of the commission for the report and the work that has gone into preparing it.

Official Histories of Privatisation and the D-Notice System

Tony Blair: I have appointed Professor David Parker, Professor of Business Economics and Strategy at Cranfield University, to write "The Official History of Privatisation". I have also appointed Rear Admiral Nick Wilkinson, who will shortly be succeeded as Secretary of the Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee, to write "The Official History of the D-Notice System".

Chief Surveillance Commissioner/Surveillance Commissioner

Tony Blair: I am pleased to announce that I have approved the re-appointment of the right hon. Sir Andrew Legatt as chief surveillance commissioner and the appointment of the noble Lord Coulsfield as a surveillance commissioner under the terms of section 91 of the Police Act 1997.
	Both appointments commenced on 1 July 2004 and are until 30 June 2007.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

North Korea

Bill Rammell: I visited the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or north Korea) from 11 to 14 September. It was the first ever visit by a British Minister. I undertook the trip because the north Koreans had agreed, for the first time, to substantive discussions on the nuclear issue and human rights. I met Foreign Minister Paek Nam Sun, Chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly Chae Thae Bok, Human Rights Minister Choe Su Hon and Kim Gye Gwan, head of the DPRK's delegation to the six-party talks on dismantling north Korea's nuclear programme.
	I stressed to Foreign Minister Paek and Chief Negotiator Kim Gye Gwan the importance which the UK and the international community attach to the continuation of the Six Party Talks. For some time, it has been clear that the north Koreans might not proceed with the scheduled fourth round of talks by the end of September. The Foreign Minister restated the DPRK's commitment to the talks process, but admitted the DPRK's reluctance to meet again in September. I also impressed the need for the DPRK to admit its Uranium Enrichment Programme, and encouraged the regime to look to the example of Libya.
	Before my visit the FCO delegation consulted on the human rights situation with three leading NGOs—Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Christian Solidarity World-wide. Armed with detailed information on individual cases, I was able to hand to Human Rights Minister Choe Su Hon a list of 18 named individuals, and asked for a full written response. In particular, I raised the cases of two south Korean pastors reportedly abducted to the DPRK from China whose details we learned about from Christian Solidarity World-wide. I handed over satellite photographs of what appear to be a number of large prison camps in the DPRK and asked for both an explanation and for access to them by diplomats resident in Pyongyang. I also pressed for the north Koreans to allow visits, so far barred, by the recently appointed UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the DPRK and by other thematic UN human rights Special Rapporteurs; and further visits by Foreign Office Human Rights experts. I hope to hear more about this at the UN General Assembly next week when I will meet Choe Su Hon again to continue our discussions. I repeatedly made the points that blanket denials by the north Koreans of alleged human rights violations were simply not credible.
	My visit coincided with reports of a large explosion in the north of the country. Having asked for an explanation, Foreign Minister Peak said it was a planned explosion of a mountain for the construction of a hydro-electric power plant. He agreed to my request that diplomats might visit to see for themselves. The arrangements are now in hand. The British Ambassador visited the blast site today; I have asked for an urgent report on the visit.

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Treasury Solicitor

Harriet Harman: The Treasury Solicitor's annual report and accounts 2003–04 have today been published and laid before Parliament.
	Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.